The Battered Shield
Brief History and Ethos During the later years of the fall of the Earth Tribes and before the coming of the Source Comet the protectors of the lands had vanished. According to our histories the Seven Earthtribes of old rallied together their finest warriors under the banner of a new warrior called Skagrid. It was this Skagrid that was to be the hero and his new “guard” to be the soldiers that were to come to the aid of the other tribes, to protect them and to stand against whatever foe would threaten them. Yet the Skagriagaard were not warriors who served, not ones who wore uniform or spoke words of loyalty to the King. They fought, aye, for the glory and the rush of the battle and those that wished to fall under their protection paid for it, bitterly and heavily. Food to fill the bellies, homes to be raised and roofs to be lived under were but part of what they called upon for their swords in battle. They lived well and died hard and called no being their better; even now their name strikes fear into the heart of those whose stories they have touched and fleeting hope to those that they were sworn to protect. Thus, then, was the day of their vanishing met with a great trepidation by the peoples of Daer Akmir, for the Skagriagaard did not stand to protect just the people of the Royal Basin. Once the land had been as one and they were also sworn to the places that we now call Egaria, Rhygahrea and the Frozen North. It is said that they entered great slumber, a fact and truth that was comported in 2010 when they awoke once more at the great gathering that is Tharinos. The Earth Tribes were changing, evolving, unknowingly in preparation for the Comet to wreath them in its magic. Despite the disappearance of the Skagriagaard the threats to the world where not yet over and it fell to others to take up the mantle of defenders. The gap left was huge and the tasks of legend mighty and the Skagriagaard had been so few, it was clear that something different would be needed. The guild is unsure where or by whom they were directly formed but the reasons behind their formulation are certainly clear; retaliation. Without the Skagriagaard smaller war bands and roving groups struck at the communities of the Earth Tribes, murdering and taking what they wanted unopposed until a large band of warriors, as if in some early pilgrimage, made their way to the remains of the Skagriagaard camp, looting it for all they could find. The Skagriagaard themselves never used shields, calling them a cowards art, but from the remnant of their camp the warriors gathered the broken Skoldur of those that had fallen in battle against the Skagriagaard and added them to their arsenal. From behind these damaged shelters the first our guild descended upon their enemies and gave a name to their own future: The Battered Shield. By the time the definitions of Daer Akmir had changed the Battered Shield was already a burgeoning tribe, a Skagriagaard in their own right with Chieftains a plenty and growing respect and well earned wealth. New nations formed, new races among the humans coming forward and borders were quickly defined. People called themselves Kings and Empresses and called for other Lords to serve them and to raise banners of their own; a war unlike any other was upon the horizon. Groups that would become Guilds were already throwing their weight behind the powers that would come to pass. Rumours of noble houses performing ancient blood rights of the Druids were strong, a Brotherhood of Crimson Soldiers were said to have given their blood to them. It was a dark time. The Battered Shield fought on the side of what would become The Royal Basin, not for nobles or the Kings and Chieftains that lead them but for the people that would feed them, clothe them and provide them with shelter. In short those that would be to pay them in those dark times. The Battered Shield survived and they settled, not with the blessing of the Dukes but with the blessings of the people that served them. Where communities prospered, where cities were built, where merchant caravans travelled; these were places that the Battered Shield made their homes. In those times the unity of these soldiers was of a different kind, they had become smaller bands of folk, mercenary bands that ranged across parts of the land based out of a centralised area that they called home. A global group focused in the great city and old capital of Maryat were responsible for communication between the groups and accepted contribution from each to set up the first of the guild chapter houses that would exist. From around the early parts of 800 the wandering groups of mercenaries began to centralise around the guild houses as they opened. The chapters were strong and powerful, most of the warriors had seen action in wars with and for the Royal Basin in and around Daer Akmir as well as on the home front. Their skills were amalgamated by the Chapter Masters, gone were the Chieftains and the tribes and the training of instructors began. Secret fighting techniques that blended the abilities of dozens of different armed forces together were founded by the Guild and they began to truly settle. At the same time the Charters that governed the organisations of groups and guilds, specifically ones that governed effectively a standing army, were readdressed and ratified by the Golden Table, the Crown and other governing bodies leaving the Battered Shield with a difficult choice. The funding that the Crown offered would have tied the guild directly to the ruling tables and effectively destroyed the individuality of the bands that served them. Equally the agreement would have made them servants to the armed forces in the same way that the dogmatic Crimson Brotherhood jumped at every order. To maintain their ethos and their solidarity with the people they chose instead to receive their funding with from the merchant houses, the civilian authorities and the minor nobles that had little support from the powers that be. Rather than form battalions of troops the Shield was instead given directive to train the Orders Warriors into service in various fields of expertise; Mercenaries, Military Officers, Bodyguards and Soldiers to name but a few. The Battered shield holds positions throughout the Royal Basin within other guilds, merchant houses and the armed forces. However they are not to hold position in foreign establishments or lend our training to them. In the twelve hundred or so years that have passed since the reformation of the guilds most of the origins of the Battered Shield, the tribe that formed them and since then the mercenary groups that protected the early days of the Royal Basin have vanished. All that remains are some passed down stories, a handful of names, some tattered and bloody tabards and of course the famous shields that hang in the Guild houses across the Basin. Each of the old outfits carried distinctive shields and when the chapters were formed together they were hung in the guilds as a symbol that the members of the guild and their spirit were still present but that they were now willing to fight as a whole, like the Skagriagaard that they had tried to emulate of long ago. Now the mercenary warriors of the Battered Shield can be found in almost every adventuring group that operates within the Royal Basin. Casting their lot in with every other member of every other guild that responds to the crisis’ that threatens the population of this great nation. The Earth Tribes have evolved, the Skagriagaard have returned to this land, the Source Comet is part of history and the protectors of the land still remain. Code of The Order of the Battered Shield * We must never stand against the rightful King of the Royal Basin, to do so will incur immediate expulsion from the Guild. * Always do your best to assist a brother of the Order who sides with you on the field of battle. * Never flee alone from the field of battle or be the first to fall back in a routed situation. * Always preserve and maintain your body, armour and weapons, no member of the order shall walk in inadequacy. Words of the Order Loyalty, Bravery, Reward. Guild Leaders Chieftain: Fergus Scott (Human). Born in 1937 in the township of Oldermark in the Bitter Vale to members of the Shield, Scott was destined for a glorious future. He was named Fergus, an ancestor of blood, after the legendary member of the guild whose soul was lost in Soul Anchor in an ancient battle against the Daemon Lord Orbolom. His rise into the guild was meteoric as he became the youngest field graduate in 1949 when he swept up arms to defend the caravan that he was apprenticed to killing three desert raiders and suffering his first heavy wound in combat. By 1955 he was in the field and leading his own group working with the Table of Swords and in 1965 he was responsible for a selection of several groups working out of Shriekspire. His long list of achievements include forming the legendary Soldiers of the White Bear who stood at the Edge of the Spirate Unition before they vanished into the Watchland. Equally he stood alone in the Caverns of the Black Chain Eater during the Red Harvest and none can doubt that the villages of Union, Stole, Haverskay and Breen still stand safe to this day for that action. Perhaps most notably was his eloquent address to the people of the Dunwell revolt who were so turned by his words that they renounced their hatred of the rulers of their county and, indeed, many of them became members of the Battered Shield thereafter. Fergus Scott is an anomalistic individual as he belies the old saying “There are bold heroes and there are old heroes but there are no old, bold heroes.” Hero is the best way to describe Scott, his men adore him and he revels in their respect. He knows each one by name and has laid his life on the line time and again to preserve their lives and their freedoms. He is bold talking and full of tales of his own and others exploits. As a leader in the field of combat he is highly experienced which is coupled with a tactical flair which has led to many victories. Strategos: Hershal Mannenan (Human): Born in 1969 in the Great City of Haven to a Mercantile family that served the Phyphor household; Hershel was given a classic education and showed some aptitude in most of the arts but excelled with weaponry, specifically the axe and the shield. The household of Phyphor gladly accepted her as a guard and enforcer but she tired quickly of this work and looked elsewhere for tutelage and the embrace of the true warrior. Initially she considered the Crimson Brotherhood as a path to be followed but the strict regimens of the Guild she felt a hindrance and instead became a member of the Shield. She was accepted readily and made her name swiftly and was soon apprenticed to a group called the Witchway Troop in 1989. Her reputation is steady with a few outstanding moments and it is that which bought her the attention of the senior members of the Guild in the later 2000’s. The Guild was strung out on senior members, most were dead in the Cataclysm or dying in the Rhygahrean Wars and she was happy to step up and be responsible for those that follow the same path. Hershal is in charge of the training of the troops that filter out of the Guild; She is patient and kind and few would believe that she is the warrior born who single handedly took down Barrak the Battleman and his Reavers in the famous attack on the township of Delve. She is well respected by all of those that have trained under her but yearns for a return to the field and may, perhaps one day, lead the Guild to battle once more. Strategos: Jesial Glashant (Lairdan Gan): Born in 1496 Jesial has been a member of the guild since he was a boy which is a very long time for Lairdan Gan. It is believed that his ancestry comes from the Mountains to the North, perhaps in fact from the very bosom of Lairdan Gan development in Essen itself. That truth, though, is lost in the twilight of centuries that have passed since his birthing and his lifetime within the guild. Through the long years has Jesial served the Guild, he trained long and hard and by the time he was 100 he was serving with several fighting groups and ranged across the lands. During this time he is said to have mastered every weapon that he came across ranging from the slimmest Dirk to the most powerful bow, these skills are what bought him to the attention of the senior members of the Guild and made him the instructor that he is today. He has fought in almost every battle and war that has been seen in his lifetime and brings to the table the plethora of that experience. In truth he is the only member of any chapter house throughout the Shields long history that has trained with every weapon and also the only one that has become proficient with all the fighting styles of the Guild. In all matters Glashants advice is sought, whether it is the building of a new chapter house or a forthcoming battle. This has made Glashant a very familiar face across the Chapter Houses and the face that most non-Guild members associate with the Battered Shield. Guild Buildings As each of the original adventuring groups that were formed or led by the Battered Shield settled into Duchies so the Guild houses sprung up. Each Major City contains the Duchy or County Guild building in which the majority of the training for the Guild members take place. The Guild house Contains the coats or arms, badges and words of any groups that are operating in that Duchy or County which have been formed by or contain any members of the Battered Shield. It also contains the Charters under which that group is given operational rights and remits by the Battered Shield. Regional buildings are temporary and give smaller groups access to places of residence, equipment, sustenance and communication with their guild when the groups are on deployment. These are usually public houses that are part of the payment for the group being hired by local land owners and the like, more and more frequently these are being provided by the Mentry line of Inns. If they are not taverns then they are buildings provided by wealthy merchants who are desperate for problems to be solved on their lands. Whilst in residence it is Guildic lore for any banner, badge or similar to be displayed in the building used for operations. Uniform and Guild Colours Members of the Order of the Battered Shield wear a Black Square with two white lines diagonally from left top to right bottom, somewhere, visibly about their person. Category:Guilds